The present disclosure is generally related to strengthening glass based articles, e.g., through ion-implantation.
Glass is a brittle material which can sometimes break during use. Generally, treatments are employed to minimize breakage and other damage, such as scratches. The treatments are designed to minimize the number, the depth, or the growth of flaws.
Examples of these treatments include stress based treatments such as thermal tempering and ion exchange. Tempering and ion exchange impart stress into the glass; namely compressive stresses on the near-surface, balanced by tension in the interior. One disadvantage of using stress-based treatments is that the mechanical property enhancement becomes more limited as the glass based article gets thinner. Glass based articles used in displays, such as computer monitors, laptops, tablets, handheld devices, or screen protectors, are generally driven toward thinner glass. Thinner glass enables the display product to be thinner, lighter, and cheaper, especially in mobile applications. Thinner glass limits the effectiveness of stress-based treatments since there is less interior glass to balance the compressive stress in the near surface glass.